Exploring K9 Training

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Dayton, OH
Exploring K9 Training

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Exploring K9 Training | Dayton, OH
Gentle, family focused dog training specializing in puppy development, anxiety, and reactive behavior.

Private lessons, pet sitting, and welfare-based enrichment walks to help dogs feel safe, regulated, and understood.

10/20/2026

Recently, we had the pleasure of pet sitting Buddha! Buddha is a Great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard mix. Despite Buddha being a very large guy, he’s truly a soft, sweet baby boy at heart.

He can typically struggle with a severe fear of people and dogs and only has a few safe people. We’ve been working hard with Buddha through weekly private lessons to build his comfort with both trainers here at Exploring K9 Training. This is not only to help improve his comfort with us but also to offer professionals who can watch Buddha and his cat siblings when his mother is away.

We had our first time watching Buddha, and it went better than we could have imagined! Buddha was able to warm up in less than two days and was even sleeping right next to the trainer and requesting belly rubs. Once he realized the safe treat lady was there to support and care for him while his mother was gone, he quickly became comfortable with the new arrangement and had a fantastic time with the trainer.

We are so thankful to Buddha’s mother for trusting us with him and trusting us to set him up for success this time. Buddha is very attached to his mom, so being able to provide a safe space where he felt comfortable and happy while she was away meant the world to us.

We love the beauty of offering the variety of services we do to make things like this possible. Until next time, Buddha!

10/14/2026

Please give a warm welcome to Pepper to the Exploring K9 Training family!

Pepper is a puppy in her adolescent stage where she’s testing boundaries, showing some undesirable behaviors, and still learning how to relax around exciting things, such as the cat in her home. Pepper is a very sweet girl and overall very well behaved. Her family just had a few behaviors they wanted to improve and get ahead of, and we’re so happy to help!

We scheduled a consultation for Pepper where we went over their top three priorities for training. These included helping Pepper learn to consistently use a designated potty spot, working on reducing excessive jumping when her people are standing or when she’s on the couch, as she often wants to be glued to her people to the point of becoming disruptive, and helping her learn how to be calmer around the cat, who she finds very exciting and likes to chase and play with.

During our consultation, we discussed each of these behaviors in more depth, breaking them down to better understand what’s happening and how we can help. We worked through each concern until we had a solid training plan and everyone felt good about the foundation steps to get started. We covered both active training exercises and real-life training and management strategies for when we’re not actively working on these skills.

We ended on a great note, with a clear plan for moving forward and helping Pepper polish up her life skills! She showed us during our demonstrations that she’s a quick learner with lots of potential.

We really believe it’s important for our clients to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, so we love seeing families leave not only knowing what to do, but feeling confident in why they’re doing it, too!

10/13/2026

Ms. Keeva has been enjoying the cooler weather we are getting! We finally are in the season where it’s the perfect temperature to talk a nice walk without getting overheated or feel freezing cold. We absolutely are soaking in this weather. Keeva has been able to walk further and for longer periods of time with way less breaks which she is loving.

We really love seeing her feel so empowered and confident in these outings. We understand for a walk to meet a dog’s needs it’s not necessarily about how many steps they get in but how they feel during the walk. This is what truly helps a dog relax, get decompression, and the therapeutic aspects of these welfare-based dog walks.

Per usual Keeva was happy to get out with the magical treat lady and enjoyed herself! Keeva is generally an anxious dog but you couldn’t tell that from how she is on these walks, she is clearly loving every moment, soaking it all in and feeling confident in herself.

10/08/2026

Please give a warm welcome to Norah to the Exploring K9 Training family!

Norah is a sweet 14 year old girl who we have the pleasure of pet sitting while her family is away, and our first time caring for her went wonderfully!

Norah has quite the routine to help her stay healthy, comfortable, and feeling her best as she navigates her senior years. Her family wanted to make sure they had someone they could truly trust to keep up with everything she needs, including physical therapy exercises twice a day, medications twice a day, and multiple walks throughout the day to help maintain her muscle tone and mobility.

We are so happy to be able to provide that care for Norah and help keep her routine as consistent as possible while her family is away. She has already adjusted quite well to having a new treat lady around, and we’re enjoying getting to know this sweet senior girl!

Our goal is always to make being away from home as comfortable and stress-free as possible for the dogs in our care, while continuing the routines and support that help them thrive.

We’re so grateful to Norah’s family for trusting us with such an important part of her care. We can’t wait to keep spoiling this sweet girl while helping her stay happy, healthy, and feeling her best! 🥰

10/07/2026

Pepper has been working with us for a while now, originally beginning after we had the opportunity to pet sit her and start building her relationship with someone outside of her immediate family.

Pepper is a dog with big feelings rooted in fear, and recovering from something uncomfortable has historically been a challenge for her. Because of that, her progress has always been about meeting her where she is and giving her the time, support, and experiences she needs to build a greater sense of safety.

We recently had our fourth training session, and it was so special to see just how far she has come. Pepper absolutely adores her trainer, but having someone outside of her immediate family in her space can still be difficult. She’s had some really positive experiences with guests lately, though, and those experiences are beginning to add up.

During this lesson, Pepper was able to recover nearly instantly after initially saying hello. She spent time either comfortably out with guests or observing them from the deck through the glass, and throughout our session she needed significantly less support to navigate their presence.

We also got to work on her relationship with the door and the movement happening inside the home. And honestly, by the end, Pepper seemed less concerned about the people themselves and more frustrated that she couldn’t get to her friend inside!

For a dog whose pace needs to be slow and supported, these moments are huge. We aren’t rushing Pepper toward a finish line. We’re giving her opportunities to experience success, recover, and learn that she can handle these moments.

Good job, Pepper. We are so proud of you!

10/05/2026

Please give a warm welcome to Charlie to the Exploring K9 Training family!

Charlie is a young adolescent Golden Retriever who is learning how to share his space and resources with the other dog in his home, along with learning that not everything in the house necessarily belongs to him. We’re also working on helping Charlie learn how to use his very large, very enthusiastic body appropriately, especially when all that excitement makes jumping feel like the best way to say hello!

During our consultation, Charlie showed us just how quickly he can learn when we meet him where he is and give him the right support. We were able to work through some of these skills together and, more importantly, show Charlie that he is capable of doing hard things and remaining receptive to guidance even when something feels challenging.

Adolescence can be such an important time for learning, growing, and figuring out how to navigate the world in a big, growing body. We’re excited to help Charlie continue building those skills as he matures and to watch all of his progress along the way.

We cannot wait to see this handsome boy again! Charlie is already proving to be quite the cutie, and we have a feeling he’s going to keep us smiling!

09/28/2026

Please give a warm welcome to Buddha here at Exploring K9 Training!

Buddha is a giant boy at roughly 120 pounds and is a Great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard mix. We had the pleasure of meeting this special guy for a consultation, and since then, we’ve been working together through private lessons.

Buddha came to us with some very big feelings. He has struggled with severe reactivity toward both people and other dogs since he was young, and despite pursuing training in the past, his family hasn’t been able to make the progress they were hoping for.

He has worked up to being able to go through drive-thrus, but opportunities to safely get out and enjoy the world are still limited. His mom also needed someone Buddha could be comfortable with while she travels for work, so she figured she might as well find someone who could not only care for him while she’s away, but also help them navigate his big feelings along the way!

Buddha doesn’t warm up to people easily and currently has just one other safe person besides his mom, his grandpa. Watching the relationship between Buddha and his mom, it’s easy to see how much trust they’ve built with each other, and how much she’s willing to do to help him feel safe in a world that can be really overwhelming for him.

We’re incredibly excited to help Buddha and his mom expand his bubble at a pace that feels safe for him. Buddha may not be the dog who’s going to be a Walmart greeter, and that’s okay! Our goal isn’t to turn him into a dog who loves everyone. We want to help him experience more of the world, enjoy being a dog, and have the skills to regulate when people or other dogs are around so those moments don’t have to end his fun.

With his size and breed mix, safety will always be a huge priority, but Buddha has already shown us so much promise. We’re excited to see where this boy goes!

09/17/2026

Each dog is different, and each dog has their own pace. The magic is finding that individual pace and meeting them where they’re at.

We had such a fantastic and productive lesson with Luna and Noodle recently. We changed up our usual route to our designated spot at the park, intentionally giving the girls more opportunities to slow down, sniff, and take in their surroundings without becoming overly excited before we even began working.

Once we settled in, we kept both girls busy with exercises focused on problem solving, engagement, formal obedience positions, heel work, and using props and cones to make the experience interactive and mentally stimulating.

Luna did an amazing job showing us the strong foundation she has built. She was able to work through her obedience skills while also being challenged with problem solving and new exercises. Noodle’s work looked a little different as we continued building her ability to process everything happening around her and choose to engage with us.

Noodle is naturally a very happy, social dog who seems to live permanently on cloud nine, so reeling her in and getting her brain ready to work can take quite a bit of patience. Right now, it can still take her some time to choose engagement, but more often than not, we’re seeing that initial time improve. That is all we can ask of right now as she continues to build these skills.

We even had squirrels climbing through the trees nearby and an unexpected picnic audience behind Noodle. Despite all of that, she was able to use her nose and brain to find cookies hidden underneath cones, work through heel exercises, and practice basic obedience cues.

By the end, we had two very tired Aussies ready to relax. These are some of my favorite parts of training, taking the foundations we build in more controlled settings and giving dogs opportunities to use those skills out in the real world. When we thoughtfully combine movement, sniffing, problem solving, engagement, and training exercises, it can be incredibly mentally fulfilling for them.

Great job Luna and Noodle, until next time!

09/16/2026

We had the pleasure of taking Kai out for another Enrich & Explore adventure, and this time we really got to see him settle into it!

Kai has been out with us a couple of times now, and it was so fun watching him become comfortable with our routine and truly relax into the experience.

He had a blast sniffing his way along the trails, checking everything out, and even getting to use a play area where he showed off some of the tunnel work he learned through agility. He climbed up and down the hills, investigated a huge fallen tree trunk, and even got his feet wet in the little creek running through the area. There was a little bit of everything, and Kai got to take his time enjoying it all!

One of my favorite things about these walks is getting to give dogs the freedom to move and explore on a long line while still thoughtfully choosing an environment where they can safely engage with the things they naturally enjoy.

Kai definitely came home tired, but it wasn’t just physical exercise. He got to sniff, explore, problem solve, move his body, experience different textures and terrain, and just be a dog for a while.

That’s what we mean when we say Enrich & Explore. We want the outing to give them something more than steps. We want them to come home feeling like their cup was filled too!

09/15/2026

We recently had the pleasure of having a private lesson with Ms. Luna at a local park!

Our focus was polishing up her recall, particularly around distractions, and putting those skills to work in some more realistic scenarios.

Luna had such a fantastic lesson and did a wonderful job working through everything we asked of her. We practiced recall in different situations, while also making plenty of room for her to sniff, explore, take in her surroundings, and simply enjoy being a dog. She certainly made the most of those opportunities!

We love being able to incorporate those natural moments into a lesson while still keeping our training goals at the forefront. It gives us the chance to work on practical skills without asking Luna to spend the entire outing focused on us.

We had so much fun with this girl and were really happy with how she did. We can’t wait to see Ms. Luna again soon! She’s typically one of our weekly day training clients, so it was especially nice to work alongside her owner and provide that extra assistance to make the process as smooth as possible!

Address

Dayton, OH
45417

Telephone

+19374500389

Website

https://exploringk9s.mypixieset.com/

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